Billie Edwards

HI! I’m a 20 year old full time student, part time model and casual fashion/lifestyle blogger from a sleepy coastal town in northern NSW, Australia called Cabarita Beach.

I’m currently studying a double degree of Fine Art Fashion and Business at QUT in Brisbane, hoping to one day to work in Fashion Marketing.

Any spare minute I get you’ll find me at the beach enjoying the simple bohemian summer life in the sun and salt water. When I’m not at the beach or studying or working I’m either practising yoga, exploring new beautiful places or chilling out the couch listening to music.

A college educated drug dealer and high school drop-out realize their vision through passion, work ethic and utter obsession.
Have you ever felt like giving up? Working non-stop towards what seems like an impossible goal? What if we told you a college educated drug dealer and a high school drop-out realized their true purpose in life through passion, hard work and utter obsession? Would you be more determined to reach your goal? Run The Jewels' Killer Mike (@killermike) and El-P (@thereallyrealelp) are no strangers to this feeling. In fact, they are the embodiment of putting your passion first. It's not always pretty, and sometimes it takes more than just hard work. It's a calling. It's being true to who you really are deep down inside. The relentless drive for self-perfection that may never end. Learn from one of the most passionate and credible rap duos of our generation in the newest episode of ThisFirst.

Insecurity, sobriety, the feeling of filling a void in one's heart, are universal themes that have just as great of a potential to be destructive as they do to be the motivating factor in success. Sharing what drove him at a young age and what still drives him today, Kelly opens up about his family, relationships and how he stays focused on winning.
As both the youngest and oldest surfer to ever win a world title, Kelly Slater's career successes stack up against the greatest in any sport; as an 11-time world champion, Kelly is one of the winningest athletes in history, more than Tiger Woods, more than Wayne Gretzky, more than Muhammad Ali.
This rare glimpse into the psyche of the sport of surfing's most enduring competitor and innovator can be appreciated by anyone, surfer or not.

Following the news that they were selected as a #ThisFirst new hire, our winners have wasted no time seizing the opportunity to put their passion first.
Kicking things off here in Europe, Àngel Pérez in Spain revealed that he will begin production on Horchata Perez Ortega - The Movie, a musical that will continue his Horchata… franchise. Having already composed the first song and casted an actress for the film, Angel will continue to document his creation process over the coming weeks as he completes the film's first song.
El rodaje de la horchata va en serio. Ya hemos rodado dos escenas, queda un largo camino por delante pero mucha ilusión y muchos cameos. Tú puedes ser uno de ellos! Con @gemmaperez95 #truetothis #thisfirst #volcom
A post shared by Àngel - APODOTS (@apo_fx) on Jul 28, 2017 at 11:08am PDT
"I feel very excited because this time I'll be able to spend time on my own project and not other's projects. I've been told many times: You can spend time fulfilling your dreams or you can waste time fulfilling other's dreams"
Grabando otra escena de la película de la horchata con @adrinstgonzalez y @gemmaperez95 para el premio de Volcom #thisfirst #truetothis #volcom
A post shared by Àngel - APODOTS (@apo_fx) on Aug 1, 2017 at 10:40am PDT
In the U.K. Joanna Painter has begun a new large format charcoal piece that captures the beauty of her local break, Holywell Bay in Cornwall, and combines her passions of art and ocean conservation. Re-upped with a load of new supplies she’s been creating time-lapses that document her progress on the new piece which will end up taking well over 100 hours to complete.
Stocking up for the next 6 weeks . . . #pastel #drawing #art #landscape #seascape #artist #contemporaryart #unisoncolour #surf #waves #charcoal #artwork #studio #sea #surf #volcom #thisfirst #truetothis #irrationalpursuit #artistsoninstagram #wip #blankcanvas
A post shared by Jo Painter (@joannapainter) on Jul 25, 2017 at 10:42pm PDT
Already on his bicycle journey from Munich, Germany to the Atlantic coast through France and down to Spain, when he was notified that he was selected as a #ThisFirst new hire, Steffen Türmer has been riding, camping and documenting his adventure one roll of 35mm film at a time.
I'm currently riding my bike from Munich to the Atlantic coast of France and then down to Spain. Huge thanks to @VOLCOM #THISFIRST for making this trip possible. I'm beyond stoked for the month to come. The last days I rode through the beautiful hills of the Limousin and in a few the days I should reach the coast. #TrueToThis
A post shared by Steffen Türmer (@s.tuermer) on Jul 19, 2017 at 7:53am PDT
With just over two months until she will travel to compete Obstacle Course Racing championships in Canada this October, Anaïs Chausse has been hard at work training with the Tr1be OCR Team out of France and preparing for Tr1be's first online fit challenge. She also might have gone to Disneyland :)
Sagement et en silence l'entraînement pour le Canada continue. L'impatience du départ s'installe !!! #tr1beocrteam #volcom #thisfirst #truetothis #tr1be #canada #spartan #spartanwomen #werise #bestteamever #fields
A post shared by Anaïs (@anaischausse) on Aug 2, 2017 at 11:27am PDT
Over in the U.S., our five new hires after spending a couple days in Orange County and visiting the Volcom HQ in Costa Mesa are back home making things happen.
Twenty one year old Tim Briggs, a third year student at Northeastern is making perpetrations to head to La Paz, Mexico where he will study the effects that plastic and fishing nets are having on the California Sea Lion population.
A California Sea Lion entangled in fishing line at Santa Cruz pier. This sea lion is young and the line will continue to tighten as the sea lion grows unless the line is cut. This is one of my preliminary shots for @volcom #thisfirst If you see an entangled animal, call your local marine mammal rescue team. I'm going to be focusing on plastic pollution and the impacts of fishing, namely overfishing and entanglement. I'm at the airport right now on my way to La Paz, Mexico, where I'll be covering overfishing for Environmental Defense Fund and doing some dives with Volcom. Stay tuned. #sealion #plasticpollution #entanglement #ghostfishing #santacruz #volcom #thisfirst #lapaz #edf
A post shared by Tim Briggs (@timbriggsphoto) on Aug 1, 2017 at 10:37am PDT
Immediately after returning from California, Houston's Brandon Clements along with his co-host Julian Lara drove to San Marcos, TX to cover Float Fest for their Dead Dialect podcast where they interviewed Cage The Elephant and Moon Taxi.
Norcal's Robert Wall arrived in Costa Mesa later than the rest of the U.S. hires, he was returning from a Colorado trip where he took 1st place in the largest freestyle cliff jumping event organized to-date in the United States. Robert's working alongside his wider group of jumpers to organize and legitimize the sport of cliff jumping.
Last week we hosted the largest freestyle cliff jumping competition in the United States. . Over a hundred spectators and 20 of The best cliff jumpers and cliff divers in the country came out representing 12 different states to compete with a panel of 5 judges with backgrounds in cliff jumping/cliff diving as well as some with ski/snowboard backgrounds. . The result was something brand new and incredible. Congrats to 1st place @robert.wall and runners up @faayeded and @jakeofalltrades808 thanks to @14erbrewing @belongdesigns @outdoworldwide @flylowgear @healthyskoop this event was a huge success and I can't wait to plan the next competition. #coloradocliffcruise2017 #extremevertigo #ccc17
A post shared by Extreme Vertigo (@exvert) on Jul 24, 2017 at 4:20pm PDT
My winning dives from the Colorado cliff cruise competition! Congrats to @faayeded and @jakeofalltrades808 for placing 2nd and 3rd the whole idea was to progress our skills in a friendly competitive environment. Huge shoutout to @travissims @14erbrewing @exvert and everyone else who helped put this together and judged the event! @Hopeisdopee . . . . . . #cliffjumping #cliffdiving #coloradocliffcruise2017 #ccc2017 #clifflife #adventure #adrenaline #exursionalways #hoagiexpringle #outdoors #hiking #outdoors #volcom #thisfirst #truetothis
A post shared by Robert Wall (@robert.wall) on Jul 24, 2017 at 12:06pm PDT
Canarus Leon upon returning home to Houston jumped right back into regular Tuesday and Sunday night practices and hit the once a month battle night called Monster night. Constantly practicing with his crews, RAD and MZK, Canarus has his eyes set on Freestyle Championships in a Los Angeles this fall.
And Sara Becker headed back to Philadelphia only to then turn right around to visit Michigan with her family where she and her mother, who she is very close with, wrestled with opening up publicly about their family's struggles with mental illness. Once back in Philadelphia Sara's been working securing membership to a print shop and getting reacquainted with the city since moving back from South Carolina.
Huge thank you to @jenkletooth for showing me around one of Philly's many bandos... I'm officially addicted! That's one of his characters on the bottom! #philly #philadelphiastreetart #wheatpaste #jenkletooth #sarabeckerisrad #phillystreetart #truetothis #thisfirst
A post shared by Sara Becker (@sarabeckerisrad) on Jul 31, 2017 at 8:06pm PDT
Down in Peru, Carolina Paz traveled to the Carapongo Valley in Chosica, which is about two hours from Lima, where she is a creating a workshop for high school students that focuses on the empowerment of girls. Called "Poder Está Dentro de Mí" (I Have The Power in Me) and working in groups and in one-on-ones, the workshop will use creativity, art and imagination to develop the girls’ confidence, trust, love, self esteem of themselves, all through the lens of super heroines.
Chile's Simón Sepúlveda is working to bring to light the issues of immigration currently occurring in Chile. Of special interest to Simon is the plight of the Haitian migrants who are in search of a better life as they flee from their ravaged country. Only in the recent years has Chile and it's citizens have had to begin to consider immigration and without a comprehensive immigration policy in place, those migrating to the country are facing discrimination and labour abuse.
Having received his visa, Costa Rica's Fabian Ruiz, better known as Chama, is in the planning stages of a U.S. tour this fall. He's also in the process of building a new skate slide guitar and augmenting his one-man-band set up in preparation for stateside debut.
Finally VISA ready planning the first USA tour, dont know where to start, any suggestions?? #trumpapproved #thanksobama #ronaldmcdonald #blessed
A post shared by Fabian (@chamaride) on Jul 31, 2017 at 9:31am PDT
Across the Pacific in Japan, besides jumping behind the kit with the Michael Kaneko band at Fuji Rock Festival, Atsushi Miki has been lugging his Wadaiko out to various spots in natural and man-made spots to inspire new recordings.
滝 - WATERFALL - . Special Thanks KB & U @yukinorikbinoue @amaga_u . @Volcom @VolcomJapan . #Volcom #ThisFirst #TrueToThis #AtsushiMiki #御木惇史 #JP #Japan #GrandPrix #Drummer #Percussion #Wadaiko #Taiko #Sound #Spirit #drums #photo #photography #film #fashion #art #artist #snowboard #skateboard #surf #artwork #GP #session #groove #beat #waterfall
A post shared by 御木惇史 / ATSUSHI MIKI (@atsushi_seizo) on Jul 26, 2017 at 4:33am PDT
And over in Taiwan, Chen Yu Ching, recently completed a backpacking trip in her home country of Taiwan in preparation for her upcoming volunteer trip to India. Feeling the need to continue to challenge herself, Chen wanted to try backpacking as a means to help build up her strength both mentally and physically.
I'm living my dream in real!!! This is my first backpacking journey in my country, Taiwan. Before volunteering in India, I need to challenge myself to experience sth that I never did before!!朝夢想邁進！台灣背包客～#truetothis#thisfirst#volcom#backpacking#journey#challenge#livingdreams #2017#summer#godisgood#day1#taiwan#india#volunteer#goal#liveinaction#s4s#第二人生#youmatter
A post shared by JochebedQ (@joch__19y) on Jul 24, 2017 at 4:09am PDT
Finally in Australia, Tylah Kerr is hard at work setting up a show in Melbourne. She's already confirmed the venue, The Gasometer Hotel, and locked in the first band, Vacations, from Newcastle. Tying in a give back, Tylah's show will help benefit the charity Make Life Skate Life, a non-profit organization creating community skateparks around the world, a cause that resonates with her dating back to a trip she took to Nepal when she was 16 years old.

We weren't quite sure what the reaction would be when we decided to ask the Internet, "What's your 'this'?", to say we were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. You, everyone who submitted an entry into the #ThisFirst contest, completely blew us away. We were flooded with over 10,000 photos, videos and statements of passion and what being able to put that passion first in life would mean. Entries spanned a variety of topics, the most common being art, photography and travel, while music, surfing and skateboarding followed closely behind. But it wasn't just artistic globetrotting types with a passion for boardsports that entered, people pursuing passions as varied as sustainable farm to table food sourcing, charity work, animal rescue, make-up artistry and even crochet, all shared their stories with us.
To pick just 60 finalists from the thousands of entries who would go on to do a video call with Volcom, our panel of judges sequestered themselves in an office for a week to go through everyone's entries. The deeper they got, the less it felt like they were going through contest entries and the more like they were parsing the results of a massive survey which was beginning to reveal some trends; A lot of you like to take photos and want to travel, especially Australians. Aspirations to become a successful YouTuber were not uncommon. And entrants in Asia had a tendency more than any other region to focus on charitable giving.
But if we thought making our selection of the 60 finalists was hard, narrowing that field of finalists down to 15 winners was even more difficult and we appreciate everyone's patience (yes, we saw your comments on Instagram) awaiting the announcement. Before introducing the winners below, we just wanted to take a final moment and express how truly humbled we were by all the finalists and what it is that is driving you to purse your 'this'. To you and everyone else who entered and gave us a peek into your lives, we cannot thank you enough!
Now without further ado...
Meet The #ThisFirst New Hires
Anaïs Chausse
Obstacle Course Racer | France
Running, jumping, climbing, crawling, Anaïs is training for the Obstacle Course Racing championships in Canada this October.
Joanna Painter
Artist | United Kingdom
A large format charcoal and pastel artist, Joanne is looking to take her artwork to greater heights.
Ángel Pérez
Filmmaker | Spain
Having studied filmmaking, but not knowing where to start, Ángel invented a fictitious brand of Horchata so that he could create commercials for the company.
Steffen Türmer
Photographer | Germany
A mechanical engineering student with a passion for bicycling and analog photography, Steffen plans to bike from Germany all the way to France to the Atlantic ocean.
Sara Becker
Artist | Philadelphia, PA, USA
A printmaker and illustrator who through her art is working to challenge the stigma of mental illness.
Tim Briggs
Photographer | Boston, MA, USA
A underwater and conservation photographer who wants to bring greater awareness to the issues facing the Earth's oceans, lakes and waterways.
Brandon Clements
Podcaster & Journalist | Houston, TX, USA
Realizing he was meant to be facilitating conversations, Brandon is stopping at nothing to build his podcast and other journalistic endeavors.
Canarus Leon
Dancer | Houston, TX, USA
Once Canarus got a taste of B-boying there was no turning back, as a member of the crew, RAD, Canarus hopes to qualify for and compete in the Freestyle championships in a Los Angeles this fall.
Robert Wall
Cliff Jumper | Burney, CA, USA
A drone piloting freestyle cliff jumping adventure seeker from Northern CA, looking to legitimize the sport by bringing greater awareness to people pioneering the sport.
Carolina Paz
Muralist | Peru
An urban artist from Peru, Caro specializes in murals that attempt to affect social change and bring a bit of beauty to chaos of city life.
Fabian Ruiz
Street Performer | Costa Rica
A one-man band who plays a slide guitar made from a skateboard, Fabian is eager to continue to travel and play for whoever will stop and listen.
Simón Sepúlveda
Designer | Chile
Simón is tackling social issues through his artwork and exploring the effects immigration has on creative output in attempt the break into new areas of design.
Tylah Kerr
Promoter | Melbourne, Australia
Trying to break her way into the music business, Tylah is ready to quit slanging tickets for a corporate behemoth and concentrate on her own production and management company.
Atsushi Miki
Drummer | Japan
Mixing his love for the drums and all things percussion with Wadaiko, the traditional drum in Japan, Atsushi is looking to bring his style of performance to a global audience.
Chen Yu Ching
Volunteer | Taiwan
Passionate about helping those in need, Chen is working to help build a school in Thailand and dreams of one day starting her own organization to foster volunteer work.

We're partnering with the crew at Mic.com to produce a series of videos featuring individuals' inspiring stories of becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable when they decided to make their passion their priority.
In this inaugural episode, we explore the moment when Jesse Gross decided to quit his finance job in New York City and set out to work for the start up, Remote Year. Providing individuals the ability to travel the world in a group for 12 months as each works remotely, Remote Year offered Jesse the opportunity to work for a company who's mission aligned with his own, allowing him to get out and explore the world without ever being chained to a desk again.
As we found in our #ThisFirst contest, one of the things people are most passionate about is travel and to really explore the world and its different cultures. Yet being able to make that a reality is often hindered by the ability to afford it. Such the conundrum exists where one needs a job to be able to afford to travel, but once one has a job and can afford to travel, one no longer has the time. Jesse and Remote Year offer both an inspiration and a service to help others take the leap to put their 'this' first.

For the third and final episode of Volcom School Of Cool with Gemma O'Brien, Gemma wraps up this three part "How To" series of hand lettering tutorials by demonstrating how she adds texture to calligraphy by using balsa wood instead of a pen.
Watch the 1st episode: